Antonio Vivarini and Giovanni d'Alemagna, 'Saints Francis and Mark', about 1440-6

Two saints stand on a fantastically cusped stone plinth in front of a rose hedge. They are Francis and Mark, identified by their attributes – the symbols with which they are traditionally associated – and by the inscriptions in the front of the plinth. Mark, one of the Four Evangelists, holds a copy of his Gospel, while Francis is dressed in a brown habit and holds a crucifix.

They were once the right wing of a triptych (an altarpiece in three parts) painted in the 1440s by Antonio Vivarini and his brother-in-law and partner Giovanni d'Alemagna. The left wing, Saints Peter and Jerome, is also in our collection. The whole altarpiece was originally in the church of San Moisè in Venice, presumably on a side altar dedicated to the Virgin (according to church law, altarpieces had to reflect the dedication of the altar on which they stood).

The saints on the altarpiece would have been chosen by its patrons. Saint Mark was the patron saint of Venice and Saint Francis was hugely popular in the fifteenth century. He was the founder of the Franciscan Order, an order of friars who took religious vows but were not confined to a monastery – they lived in towns and cities. The three knots on his belt symbolise the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience that all Franciscans took. Through a tear in the side of his robe you can see the marks of the stigmata – the wounds of the Crucifixion which miraculously appeared on Francis’s body.

Antonio and Giovanni collaborated on many altarpieces and it is hard to work out which artist did which bits. The way the figures and draperies are painted in this panel is different to in the panel of Saints Peter and Jerome – compare the faces, hands and feet in particular. Perhaps Giovanni, who might have specialised in the kind of yellow of Saint Peter’s cloak, did Peter and Jerome while Antonio did Francis and Mark.

It was very unusual in Venetian art of this period to show saints standing on plinths like this, as if they are sculptures: the idea was picked up by Crivell later in the century, as in the Demidoff Altarpiece. The Vivarini workshop possibly also worked on colouring sculpture and maybe took the idea from contemporary altarpieces and tombs.